Posts Tagged With: ESPN

It is hard. As we move on in life people are taken from us. Whether a family member, a friend or simply someone who we grew up with. Sometimes it is someone who seemed ever-present in our lives, someone like Stuart Scott.

The first time a celebrities death truly hit me was with Johnny Carson. Ended every single day with him for longer than I care to remember. He was the uncle who made you laugh. Much the same recently when we lost Robin Williams. But the hits keep coming.

I first saw Stuart Scott on the local news here in Orlando, he worked for WESH the NBC station here in Orlando before moving onto ESPN. We grew up with his catchphrases: “Booyah…” and “cooler than the other side of the pillow” became part of the national lexicon. Through Scott sportscasters are often as known by their catchphrases as for their work.

When I saw Scott’s speech at this years ESPY award show I was at once proud and saddened.

I was proud seeing a strong man fighting cancer and staying positive. So many fight this dreaded disease and it is absolutely a fight. Those like Stuart Scott and Jim Valvano who fight the fight and live their lives gives me hope for so many others.

I was saddened because, because I knew this day was coming. This day comes far to soon for each and every one of us.

I did not know Jim Valvano.
I never saw him play, never saw him coach. When he was cutting down the nets after winning the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament I was only 12 years old. I was unaware of Jim Valvano’s entire existence until this:

It is odd going from being unaware of someone to feeling a great admiration for that same someone in the span of mere minutes. That is what Jim Valvano gave us.

Sports is life. It is more important than the simple games we play and enjoy. Sometimes it can bring people together in a fellowship, a brotherhood that would not exist otherwise.

The “Jimmy V” speech is outstanding. It is inspiring. You do not need to even like sports to be touched by the words he said that night. The thoughts he shared that night transcend the sporting world.

“If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s one heck of a day.”

It is an amazing day. Here was a man dying of cancer(he would pass less than a month later) urging those in attendance to live their lives to the fullest. That night he would form the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research to help others. And he has helped so many others. Not only those helped by the foundation, but those inspired by his shining example.

It inspires me every day of my life. Every time I watch that speech is like watching it for the first time. Chills go down my spine and I feel like I could run through any wall. I feel I could do anything. Time is a gift, there is only so much that we each have. So live your life.